


Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

by hotguyhawkeye



Series: Reader/Peter: Better Together [7]
Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Female Friendship, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, Reader Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 05:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11752788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotguyhawkeye/pseuds/hotguyhawkeye
Summary: Peter, per your request, gives you space, and as you abruptly realize space isn't what you want anymore, Michelle opens your eyes to other realizations you were too distracted to notice...





	Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

**Author's Note:**

> So sorry for the delay! Couldn't seem to wrap my head around actually getting words out. But here it is! Part 7! (Can you believe it? I low-key wrote part 1 thinking it would be a one-off, and now here we are!!!) Enjoy! Unbeta'd, as ever; mistakes are my own.

For the next couple of weeks following the awkward fight with Peter, he does as you asked him to, and gives you space to figure things out; at school, he still walks with you to classes you share, lets you walk in before him, meets you at your locker before decathlon. But at lunch, he respects it if you decide to go and sit in the corner with Michelle; when the two of you head toward him and Ned, you can tell he’s fighting a bright smile, but he’s kind enough to not ever let it sneak onto his face. You’ve never seen anyone try to hide such eagerness before, and it’s beyond endearing. After exactly three and a half weeks of this behavior, MJ pulls you into the ladies’ at lunch and starts demanding answers.

“Okay, spill. What’s going on with you and Parker now?” she asks, one eyebrow lifted in what you assume is meant to be an intimidating gesture. (It kind of _is._ )

You shrug and bite back a smile. “I don’t know. He’s doing exactly what I asked him and giving me space to process what happened between us before, but he’s also…it’s like he got _nicer_ somehow in the interim. Like, he’s way more polite than he ever was, but not condescendingly so. And when he texts me, it only ever turns into banter if _I_ steer us that way; otherwise he’ll only ever text me homework questions or answers to the questions I send him.” You pause, and reflect on the last few weeks. “I think he’s trying really hard to prove that as much as he wants things to go back to how they were before, he respects that I’m the only one who gets to decide if they do.”

Michelle gives you a long, searching look before tossing her head back in laughter. “So, you mean to tell me that after _all of this_ , you’ve gone and fallen for him even harder than before?”

You feel your face flush and you try to shake your head, stammering a denial, but it’s no use. The second Michelle says it, you know it’s true. In proving his worthiness of re-earning your trust and friendship, Peter somehow took it a step further and weaseled his way back into your heart, past where he was before and taking root somewhere deeper than you had ever anticipated. You eventually stop stammering and stop trying to shake your head, and just slump forward, your head thumping on MJ’s shoulder. “What the hell do I do now?” you whine.

Michelle pats your head awkwardly and you can hear the laughter in her voice when she answers you. “There’s really only two options here, I’m afraid. You either have to shove the feelings down for the rest of your life, and succumb to the slow torture of being in love with someone and never knowing how they feel, or you take the leap. And, girl, I’ve seen the way Peter looks at you. He’ll catch you.”

You pull away from her and stare at her, eyes wide. She laughs again at your look and throws her arm around your shoulders. “Come on, Bambi, no need for the doe eyes. You don’t have to do anything today. I’m just saying, maybe don’t wait too long.”

* * *

The next day, you’re still not sure what to do, so you decide to just ease back into the old swing of things with regards to Peter and Ned. The first step of this is hooking your arms through both of their elbows as you walk to class together; you keep your focus ahead of you, resolutely refusing to turn your head toward either of them, but you can see out of the corner of your eyes that they’re frantically communicating through a series of exaggerated facial expressions.

They halt the looks as you arrive at the door, and in a mirror of the first day you went to decathlon, they dramatically drop your arms and lift theirs toward the classroom, bowing and murmuring, “After you, m’lady.” You grin widely and bounce into the classroom, walking high on your toes with your chin lifted in what is meant to be a faux-haughty expression. They follow shortly behind you, and take their seats on either side of your desk, and you find yourself sending a wink to Ned, and nudging Peter’s arm gently.

Throughout class, Peter keeps glancing your way, and eventually you kick at him to get him to stop, but you make sure to let him see you’re fighting back laughter. He just shrugs and smiles a soft sort of half-smile at you before turning his head firmly back toward his paper. The two of you part ways with Ned at the bell, and Peter walks you to your next class, as it’s halfway toward his; neither of you says a word, and you let your arms hang loose at your sides. When your classroom is in sight, you let your hand nudge Peter’s just enough to flick his pinky with yours; suddenly, his hand is gripping yours fiercely, his fingers entwined in yours.

You glance up at him in shock, and he’s just smiling that same half-smile at you. Wordlessly, you shake your head and chuckle, and he pulls you in for a tight hug just outside your classroom, his fingers still threaded through yours. You take a deep breath, your face buried in his chest, and you feel the burn of tears prickling at the back of your eyes as he whispers a soft, “I missed you,” into your hair.

You grip him fiercely, and whisper back, “I know; I’m sorry,” and you can feel him shaking his head against yours. As he pulls away, he slips a piece of paper into the hand he wasn’t holding. “I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” he says, at full volume this time. You nod and he smiles at you again, this time so wide and straining that it’s damn near blinding; he turns and hurries off toward his class, and you find yourself smiling at his retreating form.

When you get to your desk, you unfold the paper he had shoved into your hand – realizing it was the paper he was hunkered over last period – and you choke back a cackle. There, on the paper, is a cartoon version of Peter holding – of all things – a bunch of bananas, with a dramatically designed speech bubble above his head, reading, _“I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you are the best of the bunch.”_

You refold the paper and slip it into your wallet behind your ID, resolving to stick it in a frame as soon as you get home. All through class, your mind flits back to that note, and you start to think maybe Michelle was right about Peter and how he apparently felt about you; maybe you hadn't messed things up irreparably, as you had begun to fear. That, however, would have to be an issue for another day, preferably after you've had a chance to talk it all out with MJ…

**Author's Note:**

> Again, sorry for the delay in getting this out! I had meant to yesterday, the 8th, as both a birthday gift and punishment to myself, but then I just never got around to pulling out my laptop, so here we are, just after 2am on the 9th, with the next piece of the saga! I hope it's all right, I honestly wrote it in a rush and just kind of let it all pour out as it came to me. Anyway, let me know what you think, both in terms of this piece on its own, and in terms of how the story is progressing! I love hearing from all of you!


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